"We want to develop a free and complete set of user friendly applications and desktop tools, similar to CDE and KDE but based entirely on free software." Those were the opening lines of Miguel De Icaza's email announcing the GNU Network Object Model Environment, better known as GNOME, exactly (in my timezone) ten years ago, on 15th August 1997. They have come a long way from this, to this.

I think you are being a bit optimistic by suggesting it will take "a few minutes" to configure KDE so the interface is less obtrusive. The default KDE desktop is way too cluttered and busy for my liking, and it takes me a good 30 minutes+ to get it how I like it. I personally prefer XFCE, but Gnome has pretty good defaults, and it doesn't take me long to configure. Gnome is actually very flexible and configurable, contrary to what some say about it, but it doesn't shove all of the options in your face like KDE does. Most people won't change their preferences much once their DE is set up to their liking, and it is much better to have the more boutique user options hidden away somewhere that constantly in plain sight, cluttering up toolbars and menus.

I think the underlying technology behind KDE is probably more advanced than Gnome, but the default interface is just too overcrowded with options. Options are fine, but it becomes very annoying when the interface for adjusting those options is plastered all over the DE, rather than tucked away in a discrete dialogue somewhere.

Beyond that, I just find the default KDE setup to be messy and disagreeable to my sense of aesthetics. I couldn't be bothered going to the effort required to get it looking like the DE I like, when Gnome and XFCE are so close out of the box.

I also like the way you can change the mouse cursor in gnome without restarting X, and how changes to the themes etc are applied instantly. These are the sort of options people are likely to change frequently, and Gnome handles them elegantly, while KDE is rather awkward and cludgey in this regard.